For over a decade, Nonito Donaire has been one of the most recognizable fighters in boxing’s smaller weight divisions, as he won world titles in four weight classes from flyweight to featherweight, and five divisions if you count the interim belt he claimed as a junior bantamweight.
He faced several top opponents, notched a knockout of the year in 2011, won fighter of the year in 2012 and is probably headed for the International Boxing Hall of Fame when his fighting days are over.
Donaire didn’t spend much time in the bantamweight division, but he made waves there despite fighting at 118 pounds only three times between late 2010 and late 2011. It was a brief but impressive stint.
He moved up to the division and destroyed former world titlist Wladimir Sidorenko via fourth-round knockout. Then he obliterated Fernando Montiel with the 2011 knockout of the year to take his two world title belts. “The Filipino Flash” followed with a shutout decision in his only title defense against then-junior bantamweight titlist Omar Narvaez, who was so petrified of Donaire’s uncommon punching power that he spent the entire fight fleeing from him.
Donaire then left the division for greater riches and glory, winning world titles at junior featherweight and featherweight as he moved between both divisions. Since the fight with Narvaez nearly seven years ago, Donaire has had 15 bouts and gone 11-4.
“I’m in a division where I’m scary with my power, with my size, with my experience. I can take big punches but I can throw big punches at the same time. So I’m just excited about this. I think I’m gonna be a big force to be reckoned with.”
Nonito Donaire
Coming off a clear decision loss to Carl Frampton in an interim featherweight title bout April 21, Donaire’s future seemed uncertain. He didn’t want to become a steppingstone opponent, and he felt that even at age 35 he still had a lot left.
That’s where the World Boxing Super Series entered the picture, as organizers were putting together a second season of eight-man tournaments, including one at bantamweight.
Beside luring world titleholders into the field, they were also looking for name fighters and Donaire was on their list — if he could make the weight.
“I thought the weight was something I was able to do. I’ve been fighting at a heavier division all this time and I know that I could make the weight,” Donaire said. “So when the opportunity was presented, [Ringstar Sports promoter] Richard [Schaefer] and my wife [and manager, Rachel,] and I talked about the opportunity and I jumped at it because I knew I could make the weight and I’ve always been able to.”
And so Donaire finds himself as the biggest name in the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament and is ready to get rolling in the quarterfinals, where he will challenge world titlist Ryan Burnett on Saturday (DAZN, 3 p.m. ET). They will meet at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, home turf of junior welterweight contender Josh Taylor (13-0, 11 KOs), 27, who takes on Cleveland’s Ryan Martin (22-0, 12 KOs), 25, in the main event in the 140-pound tournament quarterfinals.
The Burnett-Donaire winner advances to a unification fight with South African southpaw Zolani Tete (28-3, 21 KOs), 30, who outpointed Russia’s Mikhail Aloyan in their Oct. 13 quarterfinal.
The idea for Donaire (38-5, 24 KOs), of Las Vegas, to drop down in weight came to Schaefer after he signed Donaire and gave him two fights at featherweight, a one-sided decision over Ruben Garcia Hernandez 14 months ago and the Frampton fight.
Schaefer was ringside for both, and recalled thinking that as good as Donaire still was he didn’t carry the kind of explosive power at featherweight as he had when he boxed in the lower divisions.
“After the fight in Belfast [against Frampton], I went up to the ring apron and said, ‘You fought a good fight, but to be honest the power isn’t there like it was at the lower weight class. How do you feel about going down in weight? You’re a hell of a fighter, technically very good. You have the heart, you don’t quit and you used to have the power at the lower weight. If you can make the lower weight I think you will start knocking guys out again,'” Schaefer said. “He said, ‘You’re right — 126 [pounds] is a big weight for me. I could still make 122, I can make 118.’ I said, ‘Let’s have this conversation back in the States.’ We sat down and I knew 118 was one of the World Boxing Super Series weight classes. So I talked to Nonito about it and he liked the idea of being in the tournament and he said he’d have no problem with the weight, and the World Boxing Super Series guys had no problem with him being in because he was a big name.”
And with that, Donaire made the decision to move down two weight classes, something uncommon for a fighter in the later stages of his career.
“I made sure he had no problem with the weight checks. So he’s ready to go,” Schaefer said. “I think at 118, with his skills combined with his punching power, I think he is going to have a good chance.”
Donaire said making weight has not been overly challenging and that he will be very strong.
“It’s been pretty easy, actually,” Donaire said. “I have the discipline to make it happen so I feel really good. The weight’s not a problem at all. I’m not killing myself at all.”
If he can make 118 so easily, why did he move up in the first place instead of staying in a weight class where he had so many physical advantages over his opponents?
“I was always looking for that big challenge. I was always looking for bigger opportunities as well and that’s where I chose to be, in the [bigger] divisions,” Donaire said. “I don’t regret it at all.”
But now that he is back at bantamweight, he believes his power is going to be the difference.
“I definitely still have the power,” said Donaire, who is being trained for the fight by 78-year-old legend Kenny Adams, who has worked with 26 world titleholders and was head coach of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. “Even at 126 I still had the power, not the one-punch knockout power but something that’s still scary. It’s definitely gonna be a lot stronger in the bantamweight division. I still have it. I always have that power. It’s something I will always carry, especially at this division.
“I’m in a division where I’m scary with my power, with my size, with my experience. I can take big punches but I can throw big punches at the same time. So I’m just excited about this. I think I’m gonna be a big force to be reckoned with.”
While Donaire, one of the best fighters in Philippines history, has accomplished so much in the sport, he has never been an undisputed champion, and he said that is what drives him. The winner of the tournament will emerge with three of the four major world titles.
“That’s the only thing I haven’t done in boxing,” he said. “I’ve become a champion in multiple divisions. I’ve won knockout of the year, fighter of the year, all of that. The only thing I haven’t done was to be undisputed. I’ve unified titles in different divisions, but becoming undisputed is something I haven’t done and that’s something I’m aiming for.”
He can get a great start on that quest with a victory over Burnett (19-0, 9 KOs), 26, the No. 1 seed, who will be making his third title defense and selected Donaire to fight at the draft.
“I picked Nonito because the better the fighter the better I become,” Burnett said. “I think everyone has things you can exploit but there’s not much with Nonito. He is an incredible fighter. We all dream of these moments of fighting the best and becoming the best in the world.”
Said Donaire: “Ryan Burnett is a rugged guy. He’s a tough, tough guy. He’s in your face; he’ll get rough with you. He throws punches, he’s slick and he can move as well.”
But he doesn’t have the power, especially in the left hand, that separated Donaire from his peers in the smaller divisions.
“I’m just so much stronger,” Donaire said. “A lot of guys haven’t experienced this type of power. The moment they feel it they’re either going to run or they’re going to hold on. So that’s something I’m excited to see all over again. But there is a big chance of me being able to do that in this fight. At this moment in time, I still feel good and I am still a force to be reckoned with.”